We regularly cover articles and videos about various methods and exercises you can use to strengthen the body to either correct muscle imbalance and injury, or improve overall movement performance for life and sports. Rarely do we provide you with a set workout to follow for it is impossible to have a one size fits all training program. We are all unique in the way our bodies move and the best workout is the one that is tailored specifically to your needs, instead of following someone else’s training program which is what you see all the time in magazines and social media. Having said all that, I am going to share with you today a workout I have been using myself a lot over the past few months and why I rate this as my best workout of all time. Some of the exercises I substitute for similar ones so don’t get hung up on the specifics of each exercise, instead pay attention to the logic behind the overall structure of the method that is used. This is something I wish I had been using years ago as the benefits it has provided to my body in a very quick time has been nothing short of astounding. Enjoy.
What Is Functional Strength?
Firstly before getting stuck into the nuts and bolts of the program I want to define what functional strength means to me. Many people can confuse functional strength with integrated all-over movements, and while some may in fact be great exercises they can come with huge risks and not necessary for the average person to use.
For example a hand stand push-up is a tough integrated movement, but it is not something I would regard as functional. If you can do it that is great, but I don’t really need this in life for I cannot remember anytime I have ever needed to do this. I would regard this as a sports specific movement similar to box jumps and plyometric exercises. It is awesome if you play sports and a key part of an athlete's training, but not something you need if you just want to get into shape and improve your strength and fitness. The risk versus reward with these exercises is not worth it. There is a much better way to get the results you are looking for.
Exercises like the squat and the deadlift however are something we use in life all the time so these are great examples of functional strength. With every strength workout I complete I will ALWAYS include the 7 key fundamental movement patterns which are.
- Squat
- Lunge
- Bend
- Push
- Pull
- Twist
- Gait
You can read more about this in the article – Functional Movement Is Everything & This Is Why
Some of these patterns I might have to regress to an easier version as I may be struggling with an injury. Sometimes I might need to double up as I have a weakness in that particular movement that needs attention, whereas others might be performed at a more difficult level as I have significant strength within this pattern. The key is to find the right level of challenge for your body to force the appropriate change within the body it is capable of doing. The body will only change according to the challenge it is faced so it is important you progress, but not too fast that you create pain and injury.
It is important to understand that weakness is not with muscles but with PATTERNS OF MOVEMENT. We see this all the time where someone is very strong with a squat but has little strength within a lunge or single leg deadlift. How can their leg muscles that were extremely strong in the squat now no longer work within a different movement? The problem is not with the muscles but the program that coordinates their function. Weakness could be due to muscle inhibition, poor stability, or even a protective mechanism from the brain.
We covered this in great detail in this article I suggest to read if you do not fully grasp this idea – Why you cannot blame a single muscle for a movement problem
Understanding the Difference between Closed Chain and Open Chain Movement
Something I find that helps to fully grasp the concept of functional movement is understanding the difference between closed and open chain movements. The kinetic chain is an engineering concept used to describe human movement
The chain referred to is a series of body parts, such as a hip, knee, ankle, and foot. In an open-chain exercise, the body is stationary while the limb moves. For example a seated shoulder press. In a closed-chain exercise, the limb is stationary while the body moves. For example, a squat is a closed-chain exercise because your feet stay stationary while your body pushes itself away from the immovable floor. As opposed to a leg extension machine where your legs are moving and the weight is moving.
For what you will find is that all the functional lower limb and leg based movements we use in life are CLOSED CHAIN in nature such as squats, lunges, step ups and deadlifts.
Whereas the functional upper limb and upper body movements we use in daily life are more OPEN CHAIN in nature such as shoulder press and most pushing and pulling movements.
Now this does not mean you have to stick to this rule perfectly as it is great to change this up a bit especially with the upper body with use of chin-ups and push-ups. However, it is fair to say in daily life it is more common for us to be pushing and pulling objects away from our body than doing chin-ups and push-ups.
Closed chain exercises are particularly useful for injury and rehabilitation for they have been proven to provide greater stability of joints. However if you are not injured you should be trying to learn how to evolve to the open chain movements in your training and master these.
Okay now we have defined functional movement and some of the science behind how we choose exercises it is time to look at this workout.
The “Game Changing” Method
I mentioned in the beginning to pay attention to the particular method I used in this workout which I am going to share with you now and you can watch a quick explanation of this in the video above.
The objective of this workout was to enhance strength into my body in the legs without compromising mobility in my upper body. I had suffered some massive injuries in the past few years (torn ACL in right knee, right shoulder impingement and FAI with my left hip) and was finding it tough to get back to full strength. Every time I seemed to make progress I would aggravate something.
I had really noticed my legs were not very strong with squats and deadlifts and I was constantly getting problems into my lower back if I started running a lot. I had never had lower back problems in my life and never from running so I wanted to clean this up. I had spent time rehabilitating all these things and they were at a point where I could progress to more challenging workouts, I just needed to find the right balance and mix.
What I decided to do was use a superset workout where I would pair a lower body focused movement with an upper body focused movement. I would choose six key exercises for the workout that would cover all of the fundamental movement patterns.
But the real “game changer” was where I added two specific exercises after each superset to enhance either stability or mobility in the patterns I struggled with most being bend and gait.
The two exercises were the Farmers walk and the Turkish Get-up.
After each of the supersets in each workout I would add one rep of the Turkish Get-up with one 60 metre walk of the Farmers walk or suitcase walk. Over the course of the workout it would equate to 18 reps of the Turkish get up and farmers walk.
The reason I chose the Turkish Get-up is that it demanded mobility in the two areas I really suck, the hips and the thoracic region. I had used this exercise extensively after my shoulder injury in 2017 to help restore the stability of the shoulder joint but maintain my thoracic mobility. I struggled for a long time to gain the stability and strength needed to do this correctly and knew it was a key component of my rehab success.
The reason I chose the Farmers walk and more specifically the suitcase walk is that it exposed my problems with the hip and especially in the bending and gait pattern. I found this exercise to be critical in teaching my body how to effectively stabilize effectively in both of these patterns.
Both of these movements really challenged me in the FRONTAL PLANE which is where most injuries occur. Unfortunately most exercises are in the sagittal plane and do not help the body with the problems it faces with the frontal plane.
Where the Turkish get-ups forced me to improve mobility, the Farmers walks forced me to improve stability and stiffness. It was the perfect combination, all I needed was a lot of reps to enhance the changes and by combining them into other exercises it gave me a good chance of executing them perfectly each time.
The most amazing thing I found that happened during this workout is that I actually improved with the other exercises the longer the session went, instead of tiring. My grip strength was noticeably changed by the Farmers walks and my core strength with the get-ups. By the end of the session I was fully exhausted but I did not feel the usual stiffness and onset of discomfort into various joints like I usually did. My body felt much better than before the workout.
If I found my technique was faltering at any point or I was getting too fatigued I only did the get-ups and Farmers walks with the first two sets instead of the first three. This meant I only did 10-12 sets instead of 18 and I might add some push ups at the end instead. Sometimes I did not do any at all as I just did not feel right. Technique is everything and you can never compromise your form to get a tough workout in.
The Program
This is one of the first workouts I tried.
As I mentioned earlier I would substitute different exercises from time to time to keep mixing it up and sometimes I wanted to overload a certain area. For example I might add the dumbbell chest press to overload the shoulders more than the single cable push. In this case I would not use the Farmers walk between the sets as much for it would give me too much compression and I would focus just on the get ups.
And vice versa sometimes I did mainly unilateral exercises that had a lot of rotation involved so I used predominately the Farmers walks to provide the stiffness that these movements lacked. The unilateral movements by the way are amazing but you do have to factor in that it will make your workout take a lot longer. You just have to make small changes where needed.
For stacks of other exercises to use make sure you get a copy of our Functional Training Free Report below. Click here to get your free copy.
How Many Times per Week Can You Do This Workout?
I would only complete this workout twice in a week with a few days rest between each session. I would ensure I walked each day and completed the mobility work I know I needed for my hips and thoracic region. If I felt good I would try to fit in one or two 5km runs and maybe a third lighter strength workout if I was not too sore.
Example of my week below
- Monday - Rest (I hate Monday)
- Tuesday – 5km Run or 30km bike ride
- Wednesday – WORKOUT
- Thursday – Mobility
- Friday – Light workout or 5km run
- Saturday – Rest
- Sunday - WORKOUT
As the workout is very destructive it is important to allow enough time to fully recover otherwise the value of the training is compromised. The quality of the workout is of most importance, not how many workouts you do. This is a mistake that many make with this type of training by overdoing it thinking more is better and putting their body through too much fatigue. You must treat the recovery and nutrition as important as the training itself to achieve your full potential.
Good articles to read with more information on this are below
And if you want even more strength workouts make sure you get a copy of the Little Black Book of Training Secrets where I share 101 amazing programs just like this one. Click here to get your copy.
Summary
I hope you can see how powerful this workout can be and the contrasting benefits of the Farmers walk and Turkish Get-up. There is many ways you can change this workout you just have to allow for your body’s specific needs like I did and build your program accordingly. One thing is for sure you will find your stability and strength dramatically increase across all patterns as you adapt to the training. Make sure you give your body time to recover and always maintain perfect form throughout each exercise.
For more ideas and information on specific topics I may not have covered in detail be sure to check out our INDEX PAGE on the website that has over 300 of our best articles. These are all sorted into categories for quick reference so you can find what you are after more easily. You can also subscribe to our FREE fortnightly newsletter by clicking here.
If you do need specific help with your exercise program please feel free to reach out to me for help and we can set you up with your individualised program.
About The Author
Nick Jack is owner of No Regrets Personal Training and has over 14 years’ experience as a qualified Personal Trainer, Level 2 Rehabilitation trainer, CHEK practitioner, and Level 2 Sports conditioning Coach. Based in Melbourne Australia he specializes in providing solutions to injury and health problems for people of all ages using the latest methods of assessing movement and corrective exercise.
References:
- Movement - By Gray Cook
- Corrective Exercise Solutions - by Evan Osar
- Athletic Body Balance by Gray Cook
- Diagnosis & Treatment Of Movement Impairment Syndromes - By Shirley Sahrman
- Low Back Disorders - by Stuart McGill
- Back Pain Mechanic - by Stuart McGill
- Anatomy Trains - by Thomas Meyers
- Motor Learning and Performance - By Richard A Schmidt and Timothy D Lee
- Assessment & Treatment Of Muscle Imbalance - By Vladimir Janda
- How To Eat, Move & Be Healthy by Paul Chek
- Scientific Core Conditioning Correspondence Course - By Paul Chek
- Advanced Program Design - By Paul Chek
- Twist Conditioning Sports Strength - By Peter Twist
- Twist Conditioning Sports Movement - By Peter Twist
- Twist Conditioning Sports Balance - By Peter Twist